1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of bird feeders and, more specifically, to a bird feeder having a container with feeding openings and a generally helical member surrounding the container and spaced from it at each of the ports by a distance convenient for birds to use as a helical perch while retrieving feed, which is typically some form of seed, from the feeding openings.
2. The Prior Art
A number of bird feeders of different configurations are available on the market, most of which comprise a hollow cylindrical container, usually of circular cross section, that has feeding access openings or ports spaced apart both longitudinally and angularly to allow several birds at a time to use the same feeder. U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,947 to Petrides; U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,908 to Burleigh; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,435,268 to Leithen show some of the forms of such feeders. In each, a short rod attached to the container in the proximity of each port extends out perpendicularly from the wall of the container to form a perch on which a bird can sit while retrieving seed just inside that port. In most such feeders, including those represented by Burleigh and Leithen, the rods are below the level of the feeding port with which they are associated, but, for certain species, such as goldfinches, the perch rods can be located above the ports, as shown by Petrides.
One of the disadvantages of all such feeders is that the birds sit on or hang from the perches in a direction perpendicular to the perch and are forced to twist approximately 90.degree. to reach into the adjacent access port for seed. In addition to these perpendicular-perch feeders, there is at least one type of commercially available bird feeder that includes a cylindrical container with a T-shaped perch in front of each of its access ports to allow the birds to sit on the cross bar of the T facing the respective port. The cross bars of these T-shaped perches are in radial planes perpendicular to the axis of the cylindrical body.